Efficient Agroinfiltration-mediated Transient GUS Expression System for Assaying Different Promoters in Rice

Abstract

An improved and efficient system for the expression of GUS in the shoots of 3-day-old rice seedlings was successfully developed using vacuum Agroinfiltration. Over 70% of inoculated shoots in the two japonica cultivars and one indica cultivar tested showed transient expression of GUS under the control of a CaMV 35S promoter interrupted by an intron. The GUS directed by a rice light-harvesting Chlorophyll-a/b-binding protein Cab promoter was also expressed in rice shoots via vacuum Agroinfiltration. Compared to particle bombardment method to test the efficiency of various promoters, transient GUS expression in rice via Agroinfiltration is more precise for assaying the inducible Cab promoter as well as the CaMV 35S constitutive promoter.